The 5 Worst Supreme Court Rulings of the Past 50 Years Post Date: 2018-11-19 07:53:06 by Deckard9 CommentsCases in which a majority of the Court fell down on the job.James Madison once said that the job of the U.S. Supreme Court was to act as "an impenetrable bulwark against every assumption of power in the legislative or executive." Unfortunately, the justices have not always seen their role in the same light. Here are five cases from the past five decades in which a majority of the Court fell down on the job. 1. Smith v. Maryland (1979) The Fourth Amendment guarantees "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." But according to the Supreme Court's 1979 decision in Smith v. Maryland, ...

Where Does the Constitution Call for Black-Robed Dictators?Post Date: 2018-11-16 09:06:18 by Deckard2 CommentsEver since 1865 discussions of constitutionalism have assumed that the supreme court justices should be viewed as black-robed deities with a monopoly on constitutional interpretation. That is the nationalist view of constitutionalism championed by Hamilton, Marshall, Story, Webster, Lincoln, and all of their political descendants. In his book on the Constitution, written while he was still a Princeton professor, Woodrow Wilson celebrated the fact that the Civil War finally forced (literally at gunpoint) this statist superstition on the entire nation. The opposing Jeffersonian position was that if the day ever came when five government lawyer/political hacks with lifetime ...

DOJ OLC Memo Re Designating an Acting Attorney General (14 Nov 2018) (Matthew Whitaker)Post Date: 2018-11-14 13:02:24 by nolu chan7 Comments DOJ OLC Memo Re Designating an Acting Attorney General (14 Nov 2018) (Matthew Whitaker) U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal CounselWashington, D.C. 20530 November 14, 2018 MEMORANDUM FOR EMMET T. FLOOD COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT Re: Designating an Acting Attorney General After Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions III resigned on November 7, 2018, the President designated Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to the Attorney General, to act temporarily as the Attorney General under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. §§ 3345-3349d. This Office had previously advised that the President could designate a senior Department of Justice ...

Matthew Whitaker is a crackpotPost Date: 2018-11-09 11:06:57 by Willie Green17 CommentsThe acting attorney general of the United States is a crackpot.Matthew G. Whitaker, installed in the job by President Trump to replace Jeff Sessions, was asked in 2014, during an ill-fated run in the Republican senatorial primary in Iowa, about the worst decisions in the Supreme Courts history. Whitakers answer, to an Iowa blog called Caffeinated Thoughts, was chilling.There are so many, he replied. I would start with the idea of Marbury v. Madison. Thats probably a good place to start and the way its looked at the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of constitutional issues. Well move forward from there. All New Deal cases that were expansive ...

New York Lawmakers Want Social Media History To Be Included In Gun Background ChecksPost Date: 2018-11-08 08:20:04 by Deckard1 Commentsfrom the get-you-a-constitutional-violation-that-can-do-both deptLegislation arising from tragedies is almost uniformly bad. One need only look at the domestic surveillance growth industry kick started by the Patriot Act to see that fear-based legislation works out very badly for constituents. A few New York lawmakers are reacting to the horrific Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a gun control bill that makes zero sense. Expanding on criminal background checks, these legislators are hoping to give law enforcement the opportunity to dig through gun buyers' online history. Eric Adams, the president of Brooklyn Borough, and state Senator Kevin Palmer are ...

Home Resident Killed by Maryland Police Trying Confiscate His GunsPost Date: 2018-11-06 05:44:01 by Deckard2 CommentsAnne Arundel County, Maryland  -(AmmoLand.com)- Foxbaltimore.com is reporting that a Maryland resident was killed by police as they tried to enforce a Red Flag Gun Confiscation Order at 5:17 am in the morning on Monday, November 5th, 2018.Information is incomplete at this time but according to Fox Baltimore;Anne Arundel County Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred Monday morning in Ferndale.Police spokesman Jacklyn Davis said officers responded to 103 Linwood Avenue at around 5:15 a.m. to serve an emergency risk protective order, also known as the red flag order.The man answered the door armed with a handgun and a struggle ...

Cop Sued For Bogus Arrest Of Man Who Broke Up The PD's Distracted Driving StingPost Date: 2018-11-02 09:33:41 by Deckard10 Commentsfrom the local-man-arrested-for-making-streets-safer dept A cop couldn't handle someone diverting his revenue stream. So he decided to do something about it. That "something" was getting sued for civil rights violations. How this will improve revenue generation remains to be seen, but for now one officer of the Stamford, Connecticut police department will need to lawyer up. (via Courthouse News Service) The plaintiff, Michael Friend, happened to notice a bunch of police officers issuing tickets to drivers for distracted driving. One officer, Richard Gasparino, was hiding behind a telephone pole on the other side of the street looking for drivers using their cellphones and ...

Wave of Burning Man-Related Drug Arrests Won't Go to TrialPost Date: 2018-11-01 06:40:42 by Deckard6 CommentsDistrict Attorney finds too many questionable stop and search practices in campaign of harassment aimed at Burners.As reported here back in August, a cabal of federal and state agencies conducted a campaign of onerously harassing car stops and subsequent drug arrests on the main road heading to the Burning Man festival in the weeks ramping up to its start. This is Burning Man book cover Many of those stopped, and the Burning Man organization itself, made noise, complaining that there were obvious Fourth Amendment issues raised by the excuses for the stops and the subsequent dog-triggered searches, ticketing, and arrests. The feds insisted the Burning Man connection was pure coincidence, and ...

Appeals Court: Police can violate our rights without fear of being suedPost Date: 2018-10-27 16:00:49 by Deckard3 Comments For those of you that claim we dont live in a police state, I give you this recent Michigan Appeals Court ruling. In 2015, Deputy James Dawson went to Joshua Brennans home and knocked on his door trying to obtain a breath sample. When Brennan did not answer, Dawson spent an hour and a half knocking at his doors and windows. Officer Dawson also put crime-scene tape over Brennans security cameras to conceal his actions and used his siren and cruiser lights in an attempt to rouse him. When Brennan finally opened his door, officer Dawson forced him to take a breathalyzer and arrested him for a probation violation even though he blew a 0.000. All of this was done without a ...

Creating a Suspect Society: The Scary Side of the Technological Police StatePost Date: 2018-10-03 11:03:09 by Deckard0 Comments If, as it seems, we are in the process of becoming a totalitarian society in which the state apparatus is all-powerful, the ethics most important for the survival of the true, free, human individual would be: cheat, lie, evade, fake it, be elsewhere, forge documents, build improved electronic gadgets in your garage thatll outwit the gadgets used by the authorities.Philip K. Dick Its a given that Big Brother is always watching us. Unfortunately, thanks to the governments ongoing efforts to build massive databases using emerging surveillance, DNA and biometrics technologies, Big Brother (and his corporate partners in crime) is getting even creepier ...

Giving Cops The Finger Is Protected Speech, Says Another Federal CourtPost Date: 2018-09-28 10:08:41 by Deckard1 Commentsfrom the learn-faster,-idiots deptAnother federal court has given its official approval of flipping the bird to cops. This isn't to say it's a wise idea, just a Constitutional one. Extending the middle finger is protected speech. Detentions or arrests that follow bird-flipping are usually unsupported by any of things officers need to have on hand (probable cause, reasonable suspicion, etc.) to deprive someone of their liberty. Other cops have argued the hand gesture that pissed them off so much they broke the Constitution is some sort of universal distress signal. The ensuing interaction wasn't about being offended, but rather their outsized concern someone in the vehicle might ...

September 25th is Bill Of Rights Day - How Many Rights Have Americans REALLY Lost?Post Date: 2018-09-26 07:46:00 by Deckard13 CommentsPainting by Anthony Freda: www.AnthonyFreda.comHow Many Constitutional Freedoms Do We Still Have? Preface: While a lot of people talk about the loss of our Constitutional liberties, people usually speak in a vague, generalized manner or focus on only one issue and ignore the rest. This post explains the liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights  the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution  and provides a scorecard on the extent of the loss of each right. First Amendment The 1st Amendment protects speech, religion, assembly and the press: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or ...

Handling an AGW (Armed Government Worker)Post Date: 2018-09-24 13:06:16 by Deckard2 CommentsEric Peters Autos  by Eric Heres a top-shelf video of a man countering the make-up-a-law-and-enforce-it routine of an armed government worker in Florida. The man is accosted by the AGW who (like a lot of AGWs) obviously does not like legal open carry. The AGW says he just wants to make sure everythings all right. The man replies by pointing out that it is. No crime  or even violation of statute  has been committed and the AGW cannot explain why he has accosted the man other than to repeat the mantra about making sure everythings all right. The AGW pesters the man with obnoxious (because none ...

Suspending the Constitution: In America Today, the Government Does Whatever It WantsPost Date: 2018-09-18 17:04:00 by Deckard0 CommentsThat was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale We can pretend that the Constitution, which was written to hold the government accountable, is still our governing document. The reality we must come to terms with, however, is that in the America we live in today, the government does whatever it wants, freedom be damned. We the people have been terrorized, traumatized, and tricked into a ...

Trump Administration Decides Free Speech Isn't Free: Publishes Plans to Tax Protests and Close White House Sidewalk to Protests[Full Thread]Post Date: 2018-09-14 19:42:00 by Deckard95 Comments(Global Research) In a major reversal of long-standing federal policy, the Trump Administration has issued a new plan to charge demonstrators for the right to use our public parks, sidewalk, and streets that are on federal land in the nations capital for First Amendment activity. Among other areas, this includes the National Mall, Lafayette Park, the Lincoln Memorial and the sidewalk in front of the Trump Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. The federal Pay-to-Protest in DC plan includes charging demonstrators for the cost of barricades and fencing erected at the discretion of police; salaries of personnel deployed to monitor the protest; trash removal ...

Pot Prohibition Makes Self-Defense Illegal Post Date: 2018-09-13 06:05:24 by Deckard2 CommentsThe case against Krissy Noble shows how drug and gun laws conspire to deprive people of a fundamental right.When a stranger forced his way into her apartment, tackled her, punched her repeatedly, and tried to cover her mouth with a cloth, Krissy Noble says, she did what she thought was necessary to protect herself and her unborn baby. She grabbed a handgun from the coffee table and shot the man three times, then ran to a neighbor's apartment and asked her to call the police. Although local prosecutors agreed that the shooting was justified, Noble faces charges that could put her behind bars for years, thanks to a marijuana conviction that made it illegal for her to possess firearms. Her ...

If Cody Wilson Won’t Be Allowed To Give Files Away, He’ll Just Sell Them Post Date: 2018-09-01 15:50:44 by Deckard2 Comments Theres been this rampant fear over Defense Distributeds Cody Wilson and his desire to give away 3-D printer files that allow people to make firearm parts and, in one case, a full firearm. They have freaked out and screamed and gotten the courts involved. Theyre terrified at the idea of people being able to hop on the internet and download files that may allow them to build a firearm without the governments permission. The fact that people have been doing just that for years is completely irrelevant, apparently. However, Cody Wilson has been the personal target of all of this. The courts have been focused on him. Anti-gun activists have been focused on him. All this ...

President Trump forced to unblock dozens of Twitter users after court rulingPost Date: 2018-08-29 17:42:15 by hondo687 CommentsTrump was forced to unblock 41 Twitter accounts after a judge ruled the President was violating Twitter users' First Amendment rights by blocking them on the site.Image: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images If the President of the United States blocks you on Twitter, that means hes violating your First Amendment rights. Donald Trump has been forced to unblock 41 Twitter users who had apparently irked the President on the social media platform. However, this isnt a choice Trump willingly made. A federal judge ruled that the tweets posted on the Presidents account are public forums and blocking a user violated their Constitutional right to free speech. SEE ALSO: ...

Texan says he’s selling 3D-printed gun plans, despite rulingPost Date: 2018-08-29 05:18:27 by Deckard0 CommentsAUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The owner of a Texas company that makes untraceable 3D-printed guns said Tuesday that he has begun selling the blueprints through his website to anyone who wants to make one, despite a federal court order barring him from posting the plans online. Cody Wilson said at a news conference that he started selling the plans Tuesday morning and that he had already received nearly 400 orders. He said hell sell the plans for as little as a penny to anyone in the U.S. who wants them. Anyone who wants to get these files is going to get them, Wilson said, noting he can only sell to U.S. customers. They can name their own price. ...

Have You Committed Your Three Felonies Today?Post Date: 2018-08-28 10:10:01 by Deckard4 Comments Several years ago the Commonwealth of Virginia enacted a law restricting firearms purchases to one per month. This was intended to discourage smuggling of weapons to urban areas outside Virginia with tight gun control laws and (unsurprisingly) high homicide rates. The law didnt seem to do much good and in a rare outbreak of common sense was later repealed, though theres recent misguided talk from Attorney General Mark Herring of reviving it. During its short period in force, the prohibition spawned a popular saying in the Old Dominion: Buy one gun a month  its the law! A similar attitude may be appropriate in light of an estimate that due to ...

Bruce Ohr May Have Broken More Than The Law By Pushing His Wife’s Opposition Research To The FBIPost Date: 2018-08-18 20:27:27 by buckeroo7 CommentsDid Ohr 'personally and substantially' participate in a particular matter in which his spouse had a 'financial interest' while he worked for the Justice Department?A review of publicly available information causes a reasonable person to wonder whether Bruce Ohr broke the law by promoting his wifes anti-Trump research to the FBI when he was working at the Justice Department. The law prohibits public officials from involvement in matters in which their spouse has a financial interest. The question is, Did Ohr personally and substantially participate in a particular matter in which his spouse had a financial interest while he was employed by the ...

Federal courts now accepting cryptocurrency for bailPost Date: 2018-08-18 11:13:42 by Willie Green1 CommentsHigh-tech criminal charges call for high-tech bail in Silicon Valley. A man charged with hacking the Redwood City video game company Electronic Arts has been ordered to pay his bail in cryptocurrency, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Martin Marsich, 25, a Serbian and Italian national living in Udine, Italy, was arrested at SFO on Aug. 8 and made his first appearance in federal court in San Francisco on Thursday (Aug. 16), when federal Judge Jacqueline Corley ordered him to pay $750,000 in Bitcoin or any other kind of cryptocurrency to be released to a halfway house. U.S. Assistant District Attorney Abraham Simmons said he doubted it was the first time a judge had allowed ...